When I first entered Dead End Rock & Blues Bar in Aschaffenburg, I did so with high expectations! After all, the renowned Whisky Botschafter magazine honored the place as “Germany’s best Whisky Bar” in 2013. Furthermore, it was also the first recommendation I got from Başak of Siebert’s Whiskywelt, when she read on Facebook that I was spending a couple of days in town. So my plan was set: I had to see for myself what all the praise was about! From my hotel in the old city center, it only took me about 10 minutes by foot to get to the Dead End bar. As soon as I was in, I did not want to leave anymore. There was cool music blasting out of the speakers, a football match shown on the TV screen, and happy faces everywhere. Plus, the cupboards and shelves behind the counter were filled with hundreds (!) of neatly lined-up bottles – all of which were sorted either by distillery or by indie bottler. On that particular Tuesday night, the bar’s owner Katja had even cooked a special, international dish for her guests (which is something she seems to do once or twice a month). So I filled my belly with a big bowl of Latvian sauerkraut soup, drank a local beer alongside with it … and then I started dramming! I began with an Arran 17 Years Old, continued with my first-ever independent Strathearn, and then proceeded with a Secret Islay from a PX cask. Before I left, I enjoyed one last dram of Hydra III by Scotch Universe, which was a peated Glenturret 9 Years Old drawn from a first-fill Amontillado sherry hogshead. If I did not have to work the next day and if the bar was not about to close soon, I could have easily spent a lot more hours there; which is something I will now do in the months and years to come. Cause by a fortunate twist of fate, my recently started new job will have me traveling to Aschaffenburg on a regular basis. And whenever I am there and my schedule allows it, I will make sure to pay Dead End Rock & Blues Bar a visit!

by Tobi

Atmosphere: Welcoming and down-to-earth with cool rock’n’roll vibes. It’s the kind of place where you come through the door and feel at home right away. At the night of my visit, they showed a live broadcast the cup match of Bayern Munich versus SC Freiburg on TV, and they also played some kick-ass songs by W.A.S.P. and other old-school rockers!
Selection: The Dead End bar is run by real whisky lovers, who have amassed a crazy amount of top-quality stuff for their visitors to try: If you pop in there now (i.e., April 2023), you can choose from no less than 700 open bottles! The stock covers Scotland, Ireland, the US, and the rest of the world. And it includes core range expressions, special editions, indie bottlings, and hand-filleds alike. On top, Dead End also bottles its own casks from time to time. You can try these strictly limited whiskies in the bar, too.
Price: All whiskies are served as 2cl drams. The single casks I ordered – such as an Arran 17yo, a Strathearn 3yo, or a Secret Islay with no age statement – cost between 7 and 8 Euros. If you don’t want to dig too deep into your pocket, you also find lots of great stuff for under 5 Euro. And if you’re feeling extra-generous, you can go as far up as ordering a Macallan from 1936 for 120 Euro.
Service: The staff’s open, friendly, and service-oriented manner totally adds to the Dead End bar’s warm and inviting atmosphere. Everyone I spoke with was super-nice and positively whisky-crazy. Consequently, it didn’t take long until we delved deeper into the matter, discussing – among others – our fave distilleries in Scotland, Germany, and elsewhere in the world.

Name: Dead End Rock & Blues Bar
Type: Whisk(e)y bar
Address: Dead End, Kolbornstraße 5, 63739 Aschaffenburg, Germany
Opening hours: Wed from 7pm to midnight, Fri and Sat from 7pm to 1am
Dead End @ Web: http://www.deadend.de/